Apel javnosti protiv rušenja nemačkog paviljona logora na Starom Sajmištu | Public appeal against the demolition of the German death/concentration camp pavilion at Staro Sajmište, Belgrade
Apel javnosti protiv rušenja nemačkog paviljona logora na Starom Sajmištu (Eng below)
Centar za istraživanje i edukaciju o Holokaustu - CIEH poziva domaću i međunarodnu javnost, strukovne, medije, i političke stranke i organizacije civilnog društva da zahtevaju zaustavljanje devastacije nemačkog paviljona logora na Starom Sajmištu, kao i stavljanje svih mesta od istorijskog značaja pod zaštitu grada i države.
U odgovoru na saopštenje Zavoda za zaštitu spomenika kulture grada Beograda kojim je potvrđeno da skoro polovina logora na Starom Sajmištu, sa njegovom najvećom sačuvanom zgradom - paviljonom Nemačke, nije stavljena u zaštitu, i u kome se navodi da je neophodno rušenje paviljona Nemačke, izjavljujemo sledeće:
- Da su granice mesta stradanja definisane njihovom istorijom a ne urbanističkim planovima i elaboratima zavoda. One jesu i uvek će biti na granicama logora 1941-1944, na mestu gde su stradali naši sugrađani i sunarodnici iz cele Jugoslavije. Da u praksi memorijalizacije žrtava i mesta na kojima su stradali, nema govora o rušenju, zoniranju i gradnji preko zgrada koje su svedoci stradanja i dokaz istorije.
- Da je istoričarima državnih instituta, članovima UO memorijalnog centra, Muzeja žrtava genocida, Ministarstvu kulture i informisanja i Gradskom sekretarijatu za kulturu, Republičkom i gradskom zavodu za zaštitu spomenika kulture i konsultantima zavoda poznato da su lokacije određane za izgradnju saobraćajnice u neposrednoj okolini nemačkog paviljona korišćene kao mesto mučenja logoraša prinudnim, radom, repetativnim rušenjem i stalnim premeštanjem materijala polu-izgrađenog 6. jugoslovenskog paviljona, egzercirima, napadima pasa čuvara, batinanjima (većinom četničkih) logorskih policajaca i starešina za najmanju sporost ili grešku, a koja su u velikom broju slučajeva završavala i smrtnim ishodom. Ovo se dešavalo tokom rada oba logora, i onog za Jevreje, i tzv. prihvatnog, i opisano je u istorijskoj monografiji1 o logoru Dr. Koljanina, člana UO memorijalnog centra na Starom Sajmištu.
- Da rušenje zgrade javno obećane Jevrejskoj zajednici za memorijalni centar smatramo neprihvatljivim postupkom kojim se narušava i ono što je ostalo od ugleda Srbije pred domaćim i međunarodnim partnerima kojima se Srbija javno obavezala da će sačuvati ovaj paviljon i nameniti za deo memorijalne, kulturne institucije. Ovu odluku o rušenju smatramo i nastavkom primene represivnog "Zakona o Sajmištu" kojim su izbrisane nezavisne manjinske (jevrejska i romska) memorijalne ustanove i zamenjene državnim memorijalnim centrom u kome članove odbora imenuje i razrešava vlada.
- Podsećamo da je značaj Starog Sajmišta upravo u tome da ono jeste bilo jedan od lokalnih, beogradskih logora smrti i koncentracionih logora. Njegova zaštita, kao i Topovskih šupa, je oduvek morala biti apsolutna i upravo po "modelu Aušvica", kako je ovaj odbačeni model ponašanja prema istorijskom mestu nazvan u elaboratu Zavoda za zaštitu spomenika kulture Beograda 2010-te godine. Nemački paviljon je sastavni deo onog što zavod naziva "kulturnim dobrom" i morao bi da ima istu valorizaciju i status zaštite kao i ostali delovi lokaliteta.
- Zaštita objekata može biti samo zaštita/konzervacija u postojećem stanju. Takozvana "kontrolisana izgradnja" koju zavod i grad kroz DUP omogućavaju, a sad i sprovode, je suprotna zaštiti, kao što je to i rušenje kule Sajmišta radi ugradnje panoramskog lifta u kopiju zgrade i budući memorijalni centar. U svojoj izjavi, Zavod svoje stavove zasniva na tome da su odlukom grada i zavoda "priznate" granice lokaliteta u detaljnom urbanističkom planu svedene na Sajmište iz 1937-e, koje zavod naziva "originalnim". Ovime je preuzeta i ozvaničena kulturna politika interne kolonizacije mesta stradanja promovisane od strane desničarskih organizacija koje su se zalagale za obnovu Sajmišta sa idejom njegove obnove kao mesta na kome su kultura i zabava ravnopravne sa sećanjem na žrtve logora. Značaj arhitekture 1930-tih i njegove predistorije kao expo-sajma je sekundaran, a isto važi i za posleratne umetnike. U svom saopštenju Zavod je objasnio zašto nemački paviljon ne može da bude spasen - jednostavno zato što postoji volja da se napravi nešto drugo na njegovom mestu, a što se smatra "strateškim prioritetom" - zastareli, neadekvatni model raskrsnice koja nije izgrađena preko 30 godina.
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Pozivamo javnost i vladu Srbije da ne dopuste da gradska uprava formira odnos Beograda prema zajedničkoj istoriji dovođenjem niskogradnje i bespravnih kafansko-sportsko-zabavnih biznisa u istu ravan sa stradanjem najmanje 17.000 ljudi na ovom mestu, i time stvori presedan po kome će se mesta stradanja moći da ruše prema potrebi i iz korena menjaju po ličnom nahođenju.
Pozivamo Skupštinu grada da hitno obustavi rušenje nemačkog paviljona, popravi štetu, nađe alternativno saobraćajno rešenje za Sajmište, kao i za Topovske šupe, i da stavi sve logore i mesta stradanja pod punu zaštitu, a Zavod za zaštitu spomenika da sprovede dodatna istraživanja, uključujući i arheološko-forenzička i ažurira elaborate o zaštiti mesta od istorijskog značaja.
Podsećamo grad da stanovnici Sajmišta treba da uživaju punu zaštitu stanarskog prava, i da svako rešenje za njihov status mora biti dobrovoljno i sa poštovanjem vrednosti stambenog prostora u centralnoj gradskoj zoni.
U nastavku, mora se otvoriti iskren javni dijalog o institucionalnom antisemitizmu i anti-ciganizmu, primeni postojećih zakona o diskriminaciji i zabrani neonacističke propagande, ali i neophodnim izmenama grupe "Lex Specialis" zakona o sećanju - O rehabilitaciji, Uklanjanju posledica Holokausta, Restituciji i Sajmištu.
1Milan Koljanin, Nemački logor na beogradskom Sajmištu 1941-1944, (p182, 389, 392, 393).
https://cieh-chre.org/vesti-news/#/ms-16/1
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Public appeal against the demolition of the German death/concentration camp pavilion at Staro Sajmište, Belgrade
The Center for Holocaust Research and Education - CHRE calls on the Serbian and international public, professionals, the media, political parties, and civil society organizations to demand an end to the devastation of the German camp pavilion at the Staro Sajmište, as well as the of all sites of historical importance under the protection of the city and the state.
In response to the announcement of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of the City of Belgrade, which confirmed that almost half of the camp at Staro Sajmište, with its largest preserved building - the German pavilion, was not placed under protection and that the demolition of the German Pavilion is necessary for planned road construction, we state the following:
- That the borders of the places of suffering are defined by their history and not by the urban plans and elaborations of the municipal preservation institute. They are and will always be at the borders of the camp in 1941-1944, at the site where our fellow citizens and compatriots from all over Yugoslavia perished. That the practice of memorializing the victims at the sites where they were held and killed, there is no question of demolition, zoning, and construction over the buildings that are the witnesses of suffering and evidence of history.
- That historians of state institutes, members of the Board of Directors of The Memorial Center of the camp at Staro Sajmište, The Museum of Genocide Victims, the Ministry of Culture and Information, and the Municipal Secretariat for Culture of the City of Belgrade, the Republic and City Institutes for the Protection of Cultural Monuments and consultants of the institutes must be aware that the locations designated for the construction of a road in the demolition zone and the immediate vicinity of the German pavilion were used as a place of torture by forced labor, repeated demolition and the constant moving of the material of the half-built 6th Yugoslav pavilion, exercises, attacks by guard dogs, beatings of (mostly Chetnik) camp policemen and work detail leaders for the slightest slowness or mistake, which in a large number of cases resulted in deaths of inmates. This happened during the operation of both camps, the one for Jews (Dec 1941-May 1942), and the so-called holding camp (Anhaltelager May 1942-July 1944), and the practice is described in the historical monograph1 about the camps by Dr. Koljanin, a member of the Board of Directors of the Memorial Center at Staro Sajmište.
- We consider the demolition of the building that was in 2015 publicly promised to the Jewish community for the memorial center - an unacceptable act that damages what is left of Serbia's reputation in front of domestic and international partners to whom Serbia has publicly pledged to preserve this pavilion and designate it as part of a memorial, cultural institution. We consider this decision to be a continuation of the repressive "Law on Sajmište" which erased the independent minority (Jewish and Roma) memorial institutions and replaced them with a state-run memorial center where the board members are named by the government.
- We remind the public that the importance of Staro Sajmište lies in the fact that it was one of the local Belgrade death camps and concentration camps. Its protection, as well as the earlier Topovske šupe camp, has always had to be absolute and exactly according to the "Auschwitz model", as this rejected model of behavior towards the historical sites was described in the study of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of Belgrade in 2010. The German pavilion is an integral part of what the institute calls a "cultural asset" and should have the same valorization and protection status as other parts of the site.
- The protection of the buildings can only be protection/conservation in their existing state. The so-called "controlled construction" that the institute and the city are enabling through Detailed Urbanistic Plan - DUP and the studies, and is now being implemented, is the opposite of protection, as is the demolition of the Sajmište central tower in order to install a panoramic elevator in the copy of the original building and the future memorial center.
In its statement, the Institute bases its views on the fact that, by decision of the city and the institute, the "recognized" boundaries of the locality in the Detailed Urbanist Plan were reduced to the Sajmište at the time of its initial opening in 1937, which the institute calls "original". With this, the cultural policy of internal colonization of the places of suffering as promoted by right-wing organizations that have advocated for the restoration of the Sajmište with the idea of its restoration as a place where culture and entertainment are equal to the memory of the victims of the camp was adopted and - made official policy. The importance of the architecture of the 1930s and its pre-history as an expo fair is secondary, and the same applies to the post-war artists.
In its statement, the Institute has explained why the German pavilion cannot be saved - simply because there is the will to build something else in its place, which is considered a "strategic priority" - an outdated, inadequate model of an intersection that has not been built for over 30 years.
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We call on the public and the government of Serbia not to allow the city administration to form Belgrade's relationship to the common history by bringing civil engineering and illegal bar-sports-entertainment businesses up to the same level with the deaths of at least 17,000 people in this place and thereby creating a precedent by which the places of suffering can be demolished as needed and changed at personal discretion.
We call on the City Assembly of Belgrade to urgently stop the demolition of the German pavilion, repair the damage, find an alternative traffic solution for the camps at Sajmište, as well as for the camp at Topovske šupe, and to put all the camps and sites of suffering under the full protection, and The Institute for the Protection of Monuments to conduct additional research, including the archaeological-forensic ones and update the studies on the protection of places of historical importance.
We remind the city that the residents of Sajmište should enjoy full protection of their tenancy rights, and that any solution for their status must be voluntary and with respect for the value of housing in the central city area.
In the follow-up, an honest public dialogue must be opened on institutional anti-Semitism and anti-Gypsyism, the application of existing laws on discrimination and the prohibition of neo-Nazi propaganda, but also on the necessary changes of the "Lex Specialis" group of the "memory laws" - those on the Rehabilitation, The removal of the consequences of the Holocaust, Restitution and the Law on Sajmište.
1Milan Koljanin, The German Camp at the Belgrade Fair 1941-1944, (p182, 389, 392, 393).
Centar za istraživanje i edukaciju o Holokaustu, kontakt: Nikola Radić Lucati Kontaktirajte autora peticije